The much-touted festivities began disastrously before Nigel Farage had even arrived, then he didn't actually turn up at all because it wasn't safe and he's a "family man".

The "glorious farce" came to an abrupt end, and the time has arguably now come for the beleaguered party to look to other London festivals for guidance. Successful festivals such as Notting Hill Carnival perhaps?

The former Daily Express journalist criticised the festival in his column back in 2011, dismissing its "propagandist message" that the Carnival is a "wholesome, if exotic, celebration of modern Britain."

The former Chief Political Commentator of Express is also standing for Ukip in this week's European elections as the lead MEP candidate in the East of England constituency.

His newspaper column featured headlines including "The time has come for Muslims to fully adopt the British way of life," and "We are full up, fed up and we can't take it any more."

In 2007 he wrote how he can "see the old East End becoming an almost exclusively Muslim district in which others fear to tread".

While "to ordinary British ears," he insisted in 2008, "the wail of the Mosque is not just an unwelcome racket, but an alien and threatening sound."

"Why should we trust Britain's Muslims?" he once questioned. "We feel that this is a troublesome minority with a record of disrupting our national life and ostentatiously refusing to fit in with the overall culture."

He even once created his own quiz, branded Islamophobic by Hope Not Hate.

Consider which of these statements best reflects your own view:

a) Britain would be a better country if there were more Muslims living here.

b) There is the right number of Muslims in Britain to serve the country’s interests.

c) It would be preferable if Britain did not have a large Muslim population at all.

Got an answer yet? I bet it wasn’t A.

In the meantime, a steel band has refused to play for the eurosceptic party, while protesters and reporters appeared to have dominated the turnout for the carnival, which was intended to rebuff allegations of racism.